If you have excellent credit and carry a balance on your credit card, you may want to consider getting the Capital One Platinum Prestige Credit Card.  

The card offers 0% APR on transfers until September 2010 and 0% APR on purchases until September 2010 with no annual fee.  Transfers are processed in as little as 48 hours.

After September 2010, your variable rate will be about 8.75% plus prime and however, by then you maybe able to find another card with a similar offer.

As stated, this card is only for people with excellent credit which CapitalOne defines as people who had a credit card or loan for at least 5 years, a credit card with a limit greater than $10,000, never declared bankruptcy and never had more than 60 days late on a credit card, loan, or medical bill.

For more information visit CapitalOne.com.

As the recession winds down, unemployment continues to hang overhead, forcing many consumers to do more with less. The American Bankers Association Education Foundation offers personal finance advice for consumers with limited resources — especially the unemployed.

“We all know someone whose job has been affected by the economy,” explains Laura Fisher, director of the ABA Education Foundation. “Even during these difficult times, there are some things that consumers can do to remain in control of their finances — even while unemployed.”

The following are some personal finance tips for tough economic times:

• Assess what you have. Review and update your budget. Consider all sources of income like unemployment benefits, severance payments, savings and checking accounts. Look at past debit and credit card statements to discover spending patterns. ABA Financial Calculators.
• Get your benefits. Unemployment benefits can help you to stay afloat as you restructure your household budget and look for a new job.
• Ask for help. If you are having a hard time paying your bills, contact your creditor to arrange a more manageable payment plan. Then contact the National Foundation for Credit Counseling to find a local credit counselor to help you develop a budget and a plan for paying down debt.  To reach NFCC, call (800) 388-2227 or visit www.nfcc.org. ABA Education Foundation’s Help Contacts.
• Talk about it. Inform your network about your employment situation. Friends, fellow club members, former co-workers and other associates can be a great place to turn to find a new job.
• Eat in. Cut out fast food and dining out. It’s cheaper to eat at home. You’ll be surprised how much you will save by taking the time to prepare meals in your own kitchen.
• Cut, cut, cut.  Cutting cable television, cellular phone and Internet service can save you hundreds of dollars each month. Use the library’s Wi-Fi, your landline and a TV antenna until income returns.
• Shop smart. Pay with cash or debit cards, not with credit cards. Shop around for deals, use coupons and purchase store brands.
• Get creative. Look for free or inexpensive ways to entertain such as playing family games, choosing the library over bookstores, watching movies you already own or doing some local sightseeing.
• Go green and save green. Cut utility costs by turning off and unplugging unused appliances, wash with full loads, set your thermostat to 68 degrees in winter and 78 degrees in summer and use fans.

For more personal finance tips, visit www.abaef.com.

The ABA Education Foundation provides financial education programs and resources that help bankers make their communities better.  Nearly 90,000 bankers have taught basic finance skills to about4 million young people through participation in the Foundation’s signature programs, Teach Children to Save and Get Smart About Credit.  Founded by bankers in 1925, the foundation is guided by a board of bankers and is an affiliate of the American Bankers Association. For more information, visit www.abaef.com or call 1-800-BANKERS.

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This year (2009) alone 94 federally insured banks have failed.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has identified 416 banks and thrifts that are currently in trouble.

The FDIC currently insures over 8,000 banks and thrifts in the United States.  The FDIC expects the list of banks in trouble to continue to grow this year.

So how do you know if your bank is at risk?  There are few tell tale signs that your bank maybe in trouble.  They include:

• Recent employee layoffs or cutbacks
• Eliminating dividends to shareholders
• Not accepting loan applications
• Generous offers to increase business with the bank
• Offering high interest rates far above the current market rates

However, don’t panic if you have less that $250,000 with your bank if your suspect it maybe in trouble.  The FDIC currently insures deposits up to $250,000.  If you have over $250,000, you should immediately remove your money from that bank.

The FDIC doesn’t make public banks they consider in trouble, however, you can check your bank safety rating at BankRate.com.

You can also look up your banks financials at Sec.gov companysearch.html and search for your bank to review their 10K, 10Q and 8K filings.

Finally, you can check the FDIC’s Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) which is an interactive application that allows you to calculate the insurance coverage of your accounts at each FDIC-insured bank.

Related Article: Video: How the FDIC Takes Over a Failed Bank

If you are a Chase customer you may want to take advantage of Chase Blueprint which is a free online service that helps customers manage their finances.  

Blueprint’s four features include:

• Full Pay: Avoid paying interest on everyday purchases when your pay them off in full each month (separated on your statement).
• Split: Pay off large purchases on your terms, separated on your statement.  Set a goal date or monthly payment.
• Finish It: Pay down your balance transfer.  Choose a goal date or monthly amount.  Blueprint helps with the math and sets up a plan.
• Track It: Seeing your spending trends at a glance and track your progress against goals.

To get started visit Chase.com/Blueprint.

Mixcloud is an online radio site that wants to be the “YouTube of Radio”.  The site helps connect radio content to listeners via radio shows, Podcasts and DJ mixes. And best of all, it’s free!  (See video below).

Mixcloud refers to the radio content as Cloudcasts; audio shows that are stored in the “cloud” and available to be streamed on-demand.

Like YouTube, anyone can create an account and upload their content. The community then decides what they like and what gets to the top of the popularity charts.  Mixcloud accepts all types of radio content from talk to music shows that have 5 tracks or more in MP3 format.

Video: What is Mixcloud.com?

For more information visit Mixcloud.com.

Whenever you apply for a loan, the lender will evaluate your credit risk by trying to determine the likelihood you will make payments on time and pay off the loan.  There are various things that they look at on your credit report to determine this.

Number of Inquiries
Lenders look at the number of “soft” and “hard” inquiries into your credit report.  Soft inquires are made when an existing lender or you check your credit report.  Hard inquires are made when you apply for a loan and will affect your credit score.  The fewer hard inquires you have the better.  If you are shopping around for a loan, consider doing it in a 14 day window because all inquires will count as only one.

Different Type of Credit
Lenders will look at your open credit accounts, accounts closed up to 10 years ago, amount owed and the initial or limit loan amount.  Lenders want to see that you can handle different types of credit.  A long history of handling debt will help your credit score so it’s a good idea to keep your oldest credit cards open and active.

Paying Your Bills On time
Lenders will look at your payment history to determine if you pay your bills on time.  The more times you are late paying your bills will be less appealing to a lender.  If you have one or two late payments with an existing lender, you may want to ask for a good-will adjustment to remove them.

How Much Credit You are Using
Lenders will look at how much you owe on credit cards relative to your limit.  Creditors usually report this information to the credit bureaus the day the billing cycle closes.  You should always use less than 20% of your available credit.

Serious Credit Problems
Lenders will look closely at any liens, delinquent accounts, foreclosures and bankruptcies on your credit report.  Keep in mind these problems will show up on your credit report for 7 to 10 years.   However, you can add a personal statement to your credit report if something needs explaining.  This may help your case if applying for a loan.

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In today’s tough financial world lenders are way more cautious in lending money.  To get the best rate when applying for a loan you must show that you are a low risk.

The best proof is your FICO score.  The higher your FICO score the lower your interest rate.  Your FICO score is the number used by most lenders to determine your creditworthiness.  

If your score is at least 760 out of 850, you will more than likely get the lowest rates.  A person with a 760 FICO score may pay 5.05% APR on a 30 year mortgage.  However, a person with a 670 FICO score may pay 5.67% APR on the same loan.  The difference in interest will be thousands of dollars over the life of loan.

To improve your FICO score consider:

• Correcting errors on your credit report
• Paying your bills on time
• Reducing credit card balances to less than 20% of your limits

Additionally, to get the best rates consider paying a bigger down payment; 10% for a car, 20% for a house.

Related Article: How is Your Credit Score Determined?